Tim Newman to keep CRVA job without contract

Tim Newman will remain CEO of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority without a contract, CRVA board members said today in a letter to Mayor Anthony Foxx and other city officials.

Until today, it was unknown what would happen to Newman, the head of an agency that has been the subject of much criticism, particularly in the past 12 months. His contract expired at the end of last month.

For one, the CRVA — a public organization that is funded through hotel, restaurant and bar sales taxes — has been scrutinized over its spending to lure conventions to the city. Then there’s the CRVA-managed NASCAR Hall of Fame, which has missed attendance projections.

In April, the CRVA’s board hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct a review of the CRVA’s operations for $25,000 after criticism arose over Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association bonuses paid to a CRVA staff member.

Once the review was done, the CRVA told city officials that it had no written report from PricewaterhouseCoppers. The CRVA only released a 2 1/2 page summary, which the CRVA generated, of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ findings. That led some, like Foxx, to blast the CRVA for spending “$12,500 a page.”

The letter today from CRVA Chairman Joe Hallow and Vice Chairman Vinay Patel says Mike Crum, the CRVA’s chief operating officer, will also remain in his post without a contract.

Only three paragraphs long, the letter says the decision “was reached after considerable discussion concerning both immediate issues and longer-term strategic direction for the CRVA.”